The Orléans Star

The family and friends of Eric George Smith filled St. Mary's Anglican Church in Navan on Saturday to pay their final respects to a member of Canada's greatest generation and someone who was respected and loved by everyone who was honoured to get to know him.

Smith passed away at the age of 98 on Saturday, March 29. He is survived by his wife Dinah, his daughter Erin Zintel, son-in-law Bob and granddaughters Sarah and Kristen.

During Saturday's service, Bob Zintel described meeting his future father-in-law for the first time.

"Knowing about his military service in the air force, I had done my research and was ready for any conversation on the subject," said Zintel, who was 21 at the time. "but after our initial introduction the conversation quickly turned to my family name which actually originated in an area of the Ukraine that at various times was in Poland and Germany. So when he asked me where my family was from, in a deep desire for this well-decorated military hero and a deep desire for he and his wife to like me, I stammered Austria.

"He went on to sak me everything about my family. Who they were? Where they all came from? Now one could understand as a father, that this line of questioning for a boy who would later in life ask for his daughter's hand in marriage would be a way of sizing up the boy if you will. But actually he was showing a genuine interest in me as a human being. Finding a way to bridge our two communities so that we can become one community. This was Eric. Making human connections and building bridges."

Former Cumberland mayor and personal friend Brian Coburn also spoke about how well respected Smith was by the community and how proud he was of his family.

"He was the type of person that made you feel comfortable and was gernerally interested in you and what you were doing," said Coburn. "He was indeed a people person."

Eric Smith was born in Navan and he grew up on the family farm near the corner of Milton and Smith Roads which is named after the Smith family. His father George Smith served in the artillery during the First World War.

Eric studied to become a teacher, but after one year in the profession he enlisted in the air force at the age of 20. He would end up flying 58 missions over Europe as a member of a mosquito squadron based in England and earned a Distinguished Flying Cross.

After the war, Eric served as a flight instructor, but when the Korean War broke out he volunteered as an exchange pilot with a U.S. Air Force squadron, flying 50 missions over the Korean peninsula in a Sabre jet.

When Eric retired from the RCAF in 1968, Eric and his wife Dinah bought a farm near Kemptville and he became a successful real estate agent. He eventually retired for good in 1991. Ten years later they sold the farm and moved back home to Navan where he was an active member of the Navan Curling Club well into his late 80s.

He was a redular attendee at the local Remembrance Day ceremony including last year's ceremony and he was a frequent guest of honour at the Orléans Legion's RCAF anniversary mess dinner.

Those who knew Eric often talk about his humble nature, his extraordinary memory and his love of storytelling. But most of all they talk about his generosity, especially when it came to his willingness and genuine desire to spend time with people and get to lnow them. He had time for everybody and he will be deeply missed but never forgotten..

(This story was made possible thanks to the generous support of our local business partners.)